丝绸之声

Silk Sonic is an American musical superduo composed of musicians Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. Maintaining a good relationship during Mars's 24K Magic World Tour (2017–2018), Mars invited .Paak to record with him. The duo began work on An Evening with Silk Sonic (2021), which debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 and was praised by music critics.

An Evening with Silk Sonic spawned the singles "Leave the Door Open" (which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 and New Zealand charts), "Smokin out the Window" (which was successful), "Skate" (which charted) and "Love's Train" and "After Last Night", which had some commercial success. "Leave the Door Open" spent 18 weeks in the top ten and two non-consecutive weeks at number one. All the singles except "Skate" topped the Billboard Adult R&B Songs chart, and the album was the second with four number-one singles on that chart.

Silk Sonic received several nominations, including the BET Award for Best Group in 2021 and 2022 and the Brit Award for International Group in 2022. "Leave the Door Open" received several nominations and four Grammy Awards, including Record of the Year and Song of the Year. "Smokin out the Window" was Video of the Year at the BET Awards 2022 and Soul Train Music Awards. "Love's Train" was Outstanding Duo, Group or Collaboration (Traditional) at the NAACP Image Awards. An Evening with Silk Sonic received several nominations and was R&B Album of the Year at the iHeartRadio Music Awards and Album of the Year at the BET Awards. Silk Sonic began a concert residency, An Evening with Silk Sonic at Park MGM (2022), to promote the album.

History

2017–2021: Beginnings

Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak met in 2017 while touring on the European leg of Mars's 24K Magic World Tour (2017–2018), and quickly became friends. They were seen at Abbey Road Studios in London with Nile Rodgers and Guy Lawrence of Disclosure for Chic's album, It's About Time (2018). The duo co-wrote .Paak's "Anywhere" (featuring Snoop Dogg and The Last Artful, Dodgr), which appeared on .Paak's album Oxnard (2018). Two months before the release of An Evening with Silk Sonic, "Fire In The Sky" (written by the duo) was released on Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings: The Album (2021).

In early 2017, after .Paak and Mars met, they decided to get together in the studio and try to turn "backstage in-jokes" into songs. The first thing they wrote together began with one of them saying the phrase "smoking out the window". They imagined a "stressed-out" man, smoking too many cigarettes as he tried to find his way out of "anxious" situations. The "joke" became a hook, but when the tour ended the sessions were put on hold.

In February 2020, before the COVID-19 pandemic, Mars was listening to their recordings; they "hit the right chord", so he asked .Paak to join him in the studio. Mars said, "Yo, I want to finish that song" and .Paak replied, "I'm drunk! What do you mean? Come on!". An inebriated .Paak met Mars at the studio. When they began to write the song, a friendly competition emerged as they tried to improve it. When they finished the song .Paak said, "I'm out, what we doing tomorrow?" According to Mars, "Smoking out the Window" was the first song he and .Paak wrote together. Mars reunited with frequent collaborators Brody Brown and Charles Moniz to record An Evening with Silk Sonic.

Mars found American record producer and songwriter D'Mile on Instagram and heard his composition on Lucky Daye's debut studio album, Painted (2019). He asked American singer-songwriter James Fauntleroy to get in touch with D'Mile. D'Mile became one of the album's core composers. According to him, Silk Sonic became a project after he, Mars, and .Paak worked on "Smoking out the Window".

2021–2022: Breakthrough and An Evening with Silk Sonic

On February 26, 2021, Mars and .Paak announced that they had recorded an album as Silk Sonic. The album, An Evening with Silk Sonic, featured American musician Bootsy Collins as guest host. The album's artwork was revealed, and its first single was released the following week. Bootsy Collins named the band after hearing the album.

On March 5, 2021, "Leave the Door Open" (the album's first single) was released by Aftermath Entertainment and Atlantic Records. "Silk Sonic Intro" was also released the same day, featuring guest host Bootsy Collins. The single topped the US Billboard Hot 100, Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs and New Zealand charts. Silk Sonic made their performance debut with "Leave the Door Open" at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14, 2021, with a 1970s aesthetic. They also performed a tribute to Little Richard of "Long Tall Sally" and "Good Golly, Miss Molly".